There are some good (great!) vegan items that have just hit the menu Torrey Pints! Chef Vanessa Briscoe created a slew of new vegan options for the pub menu. I got a sneak preview of the in progress items and am THRILLED with the new offerings.
… Torrey Pints, Whole Foods La Jolla (San Diego,CA)
The motto for the city of Denver should be: Come to Denver for our Seitan Wings! Vegan wings—be them seitan, mock chicken or cauliflower—have come a long long way these past few years. Through those years I’ve made the pleasant effort to consume as many as possible. I’m thrilled to say that the Seitan Wings ($10 / $5 Happy Hour) at City, O City are THE BEST I’ve ever had up to this point. A heaping slab—I’d say at least a pound—of chewy house-made setian is sliced and fried in a crisp batter creating ‘wings’ with a gristly interior and crackling-like exterior. The texture even holds true after a night in the fridge… yes, they are still crispy the next day. They come slathered in a choice of BBQ or Buffalo Sauce. While I normally order buffalo anything, on this occasion I gave in to my BF’s pleas for BBQ after nearly burned his face off with Buffalo Tigers at Vertical Diner. He was a fan of the sauce. I found the BBQ overly sweet and less smokey than I prefer, but there is nothing inherently wrong with that. No matter what I thought of the sauce, it could not mask the perfect execution of these seitan wings.
… City, O City (Denver, CO)
I had the great luck of catching up with Chef Ayinde Howell and Zoe Eisenberg on their Culinary Art Tour for their relationship manifesto/cookbook The Lusty Vegan. The post is live on The Vedge which I strongly encourage you to read {wink}. The tour concludes next week in Los Angeles with a chance to meet and eat with the dynamic vegan duo:
On Monday November 24th, Chef Ayinde Howell and Zoe Eisenberg are bringing their new cookbook The Lusty Vegan to Mohawk Bend and preparing a monstrous Thanksgiving feast. I got ahold of the menu to share and frankly cannot wait to dive into this vegan holiday blowout! Yes, there are still some seats left…
First Course:
Waldorf salad
Second Course:
Corn and potato chowder with cornbread
Third Course (Served Family Style):
Savory bread pudding
Yams w/marshmallow
Wild rice stuffing
Seitan Wellington
Vodka cranberry sauce
Fourth Course:
Peach and plum cobbler with vanilla ice cream
Monday, November 24 @ 6:30 p.m.
Tickets: $35/pp
Mohawk Bend, 2141 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026
RESERVE: authors@mohawk.la
Event details here
This summer I won a $200 gift card from Veggie Grill in their Taste the Sunshine Instagram contest. While my first instinct was to stuff my face with $200 worth of Crispy Cauliflower, I reluctantly let that dream go and instead committed myself to eat everything on the Veggie Grill menu! Two months later, I’ve burned through the gift card and have just a handful of items to go. This week I closed out my first category: Sandwiches.
So, for your reading pleasure, here is every sandwich on Veggie Grill’s menu:
… Eat the Veggie Grill Menu Challenge: Sandwiches
I rue the day I assumed SunCafé was a commonplace sandwich/salad/smoothie joint. It is so, so, so much more. The converted 1920’s ranch home (formally Zach’s Café) on Ventura Blvd extrudes warmth and comfort while the menu promotes whole food in comforting and familiar forms.
… SunCafé (Los Angeles,CA)
An impromptu weekday lunch with my mom finally brought me to Goldie’s. The living wall beckoned us from the street but offer little shade for a midday meal. Fortunately, the interior proved to be lovely. Designed by the restaurateur Nick Mathers, it’s been described as Frank Lloyd Wright-meets-lumberyard which doesn’t make any sense to me at all. This is clearly a mid-century derived design accented with Moroccan tiles and knock-off Wegner Elbow chairs.
… Goldie’s (Los Angeles, CA)
During an absolutely horrible job interview, my potential boss mentioned that he was vegan. I smiled and said “Oh yeah! I’m vegetarian…”
“That’s not the same thing at all” he stated dryly. Ouch.
It was meant as an insult. A pastrami pocketing New Yorker once told me that I like “salad between bread” not “sandwiches.” I dissagree. I mean hello, I love bánh mì, grilled cheese, the ‘Shroom Burger from Shake Shack and so on. Still, I do love a “salad between bread!”
… Mustard Seed Café (Los Angeles, CA)
It began years ago. Aloft in New York, I’d fly down to Los Angeles for family and friends… but not for the restaurants. STREET almost changed my mind. I’ve checked in periodically over the years, the menu in a constant flux of evolving blends of modern and traditional street foods. But it has finally come to a beautiful fruition the newest menu revision. Focused on small dishes and with a heavy nod to vegetarians and vegans, STREET is now totally worth a cross country flight… but now in my case, a 20 minute drive.
When it comes to vegetarian eating in Los Angeles, I’m sorry to say, omnivore restaurants reign supreme. Incredibly fresh, resourceful and delicious, I’m smitten with Forage in Silver Lake’s vegetable dishes. A generous plate of three sides runs $11.50. When making choices, let your eyes guide you. The elegantly displayed selections speak for themselves. But if you want a some assistance, here’s a guide to my favorite plate:
The Veg Foodie 